


The View from Below

by MonochroMayhem



Series: Chrome's Odd Fics [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Gen, Macro/Micro, Shrinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25585708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonochroMayhem/pseuds/MonochroMayhem
Summary: When a raid of Eggman's base leaves the Team with a strange device for Tails to take apart, a sudden turn of events leaves the Team in shock.
Series: Chrome's Odd Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854412
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. Have Fun Storming the Castle!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna be on vacation from July 30th, 2020 to August 2nd, 2020. If you don't hear from me or my uploads, don't worry. I'll be back.

"Alright, so Knuckles and I need to get into Eggman's base and keep him and his robots busy, right?" Sonic said, looking to Tails. The young brother figure stood beside him, eyeing the small ventilation shaft that stuck out slightly behind a circle of neatly trimmed bushes. "This should be fun."

"Sonic, don't forget, Knuckles is coming with so he can lift the bomb and take it with us. He's better at locating it than you or me. Although it's not exactly difficult since I got a signal." He pursed his lips as his tails flicked back and forth, brushing the dirt off the paved ground. He was holding out his radar, tapping at it to be certain that his readings were correct. "I'm going to go through the vents and disable security measures," he added.

"Why don't we just bust through his defenses like last time?" Knuckles asked. "Wouldn't that be easier?"

Tails shook his head. "I reckon Eggman has upped his game on making the doors difficult to destroy. It wouldn't be smart to waste your energy on that."

Knuckles crossed his arms. "I suppose you're right, but it's definitely less direct."

Sonic flashed him a grin as he took a few shoulder stretches. "That old egghead isn't gonna know what hit him."

Tails nodded. "And hopefully we can keep Central City safe," he replied. "Too many scares happening lately."

Sonic leaned to one side and crouched slightly into a hip flexor stretch. "Hopefully this won't take too long. Usually the action only lasts a few minutes. Can't wait to see what kind of party he's got."

As the sound of a door shuffled open, the team prepared for the two Eggbots that rolled out to greet them. Tails swallowed the lump in his throat and split off towards the vent as the item her two made quick work dispatching the welcoming committee. "Don't take too long, guys!"

The sound of an intercom emitting feedback stung Sonic's ears like an aural wasp. As it subsided, Robotnik's voice shouted loud and clear. "Oh Sonic, so nice of you and your friends to pay me a neighborly visit!"

"Yeah, sorry we couldn't bring cookies, or ask for a cup of sugar... is that the kind of stuff boomers like you call friendly?" Sonic said with a smirk.

"Silence!" Eggman replied. There was a slight hesitance in his voice as though the comment was genuinely baffling, but it was quickly redeemed by a small chuckle. "I think you'll find my present to be a big surprise for you."

Knuckles grimaced. "If you want to show it to us, why didn't you just bring it out here?"

"Oh, but don't you see, foolish echidna, what fun is it without a little game of Cops and Robbers?"

From the hallway beyond the entrance poured a swarm of repurposed beetle drones covered in a thick chrome plating. The glare off them from the midday sun left Knuckles with a twinge in his left temple and he grimaced. "Sonic, I can't see them well, they're..."

"I don't think I've see something that shiny since Tails' invention last summer," Sonic replied, squinting to get a better look. His eyes watered but he could just make out the hovering undercarriage of the bots. 

Sonic spun forward with a jolt of blue, but as he went to tackle the massive drone, it moved out of the way seemingly with zero effort.

"Difficult to aim when you're getting blinded, huh?" Eggman taunted.

Knuckles grumbled and looked towards the intercom, which hung on a pole like an outdoor light fixture. "Sonic, I'm gonna need you to jump in a sec."

"Okay, buddy, tell me whe--" As he looked behind him, a deep scraping sound staccatoed off of the air. Knuckles had dislodged the pole from the ground and was gearing up to swing.

"Alright, let's play some baseball, ya creep!" Knuckles gruffly yelled, taking a high-momentum swig at the first bot. A loud crackling noise gave way to an explosion of smoke as Sonic jumped over the pole.

"Good work, Knu--" Sonic cut himself off as Knuckles took another swing, noticing that the weight of the pole was now dragging him around in a circle. More twisted shrapnel rained from Sonic's left and right, and more smoke polluted the crisp and clean ocean air. Even though, Sonic was getting more and more impressed by each successive swing as he felt it move seamlessly beneath his feet- the wind from the air it cut through grew more intense.

Finally it seemed like the beetles were gone, but now the door was sealed again. "Oh boy, Tails is still inside the building, who knows how much further ahead he is."

Knuckles, having worked himself into a small about of rage, hoisted the pole over his shoulder and flung it into the door like a javelin. A modest but workable hole was punctured all the way through the thick plating, and it was clean enough to see the layers upon layers of wiring sandwiched in between. "God, my Thursday just got worse," Knuckles said, assuredly trekking forward with a slight stomp. 

Sonic stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. "Easy there, the day isn't done yet. You still got time to chillax once we get done with this mission." He put a hand to his chin. "Though I'm probably gonna be hungry once we get back. I have a feeling you will be too, huh." 

Knuckles nodded slowly. "I guess I can _try_ to cool off. You know how I get."

* * *

Meanwhile, Tails was sweating in the isolation of the ducts. He'd spent a good five minutes on the wiring and he'd already worked his way through most of the defenses. He was almost to the room where his radar was reading the signal, but he'd figured the weapon would have been much deeper inside the facility. He couldn't help but notice a strange sensation in his gut, but he pressed forward nonetheless.

As he slid his way ahead, he felt the vent give way beneath him and he fell through a less than study grate. As his head cleared from the fall he looked up, only for the grate to smack him directly in the face. His ears flattened a bit as he frowned. "Maybe Eggman's defenses were only good on the outside. Why am I not surprised and yet so disappointed?"

As he walked forward, he took a tally of his surroundings. Cold steel walls that looked like they'd be at home in a space horror, a long series of winding hallways meant to confuse anybody who came inside. He was lucky he disabled a linear path, who knows if his friends would be able to make it out of here on their own. Then again, Knuckles could probably still break those walls easy and Sonic... he'd cover enough ground to find the right way.

He felt a chill from a nearby vent, and he looked down to notice he was standing on top of a heavy grate. "Looks like this place goes deeper than I thought," he said to himself.

Tails grazed a laser tripwire that sat close to the ground, resulting in a wall that sprang up and locked with a loud click. He turned, but another wall sprung up behind him and did the same. He was boxed in now, and a voice rang out over the intercom. 

"Did you really think I was going to let you get close so easily, Tails?" Robotnik said. "You should know better than to assume I'm that foolish."

Tails grimaced. "And what exactly are you planning to do with me?" he said, fishing around in the pack that he had carried for the mission with on hand. "Can't exactly send any robots in here with the doors locked."

Eggman chuckled. "I don't need them to come in," he said. "I just needed to trap you."

Tails eyed the cold-air vent. The sound of the fan below had ceased, and it realized it was probably blocked off as well. The sound of robots outside the doors behind and in front of him clanked uneasily and buzzed. "So what's next? You're just gonna let me starve?"

Robotnik's smirk was so strong it was audible. "You're more observant than you look, Tails. No, I'm not going to starve you." There was an audible paused as the hum of the robots beyond the walls intensified. "But I hope your favorite breakfast is pancakes, Tails- it's certainly mine!"

The edges of the doors broke from their lodging and scraped loudly against the walls of the hallway. Red sparks accentuated the screeching of metal on metal as the fox nervously realized he was practically in a slow-approaching hydraulic press. Tails wanted badly to cover his ears, but he realized that if he wasn't quick he wasn't going to be seeing his friends anytime soon. 

The walls were closing on on him as he finished fishing two bracelets from his pack. "Oh, I didn't think I'd be testing these so soon..." he muttered, fumbling to get them on. "Hopefully these six months weren't wasted." He clicked them both open and snapped them onto his wrists. He braced himself for the task ahead.

"Here goes nothin'."

Tails flicked his wrists down, and a series of articulated chrome plates came down over the backs of his hands and hooked his fingers. Two sharp spikes protruded from the knuckles, and the joints of his fingers bent with more ease that Tails expected. Glinting in the center of each one of the backs of his hands was a yellow glowing gem. 

He took a deep breath in and clenched his fists. The stones in the center glowed a bit like softly embering coals. "Concentrate..." he said, attempting to calm himself as the walls screeched onwards towards him. 

He swung his fist forward and hit one of the walls. The metal gave off a high resistance, and despite hearing the circuits inside crackle like glass he only made a small dent in the metal.

"Like it, Tails? It's Super Magnesium. 56 percent stronger than titanium with the fraction of the weight of aluminum. Shock absorbent and extremely ductile."

Tails frowned. "I'm gonna get out of here, just watch!"

A low rumbling seemed to resound throughout the facility before Eggman could chime in. "Sorry to leave you so soon, my rival, but the better scientist has some pests to dispose of."

Tails grimaced as the intercom cut out, his panic resurfacing as his eyes searched around for a weakness in the collapsing room. His gaze fell on the grate below him, and as he widened his stance he clenched both of his fists. "Stay calm, Tails."

* * *

Sonic and Knuckles arrived at the control room, where Eggman was waiting. He spun in his chair and crossing his legs. "Why hello there!" he said. "Glad you could make it to the show."

Sonic looked around, searching for his best friend. "Where is he?" he muttered to Knuckles.

"I don't know," Knuckles said, frowning. "Maybe he ran into some trouble?"

"You didn't take long at all that time, you two. But it's still not fast enough. Eight minutes, fifty-eight seconds? Seems like my defenses were just enough to slow you down." He looked amused as the hedgehog furrowed at the insult.

"Alright, Egghead, where's the bomb?" Sonic asked, his voice made agitated by the earlier comment. "We traced it hours ago."

"Now, now, Sonic, don't be too hasty. You'll get that soon enough. But first, your gift." He pressed a button on the arm of his chair and flicked his wrist a bit. 

A screen came up with a camera showing Tails trapped between two closing walls. He was punching at a vent, but despite the grate being successfully broken, the closeoff point was just below it, not even giving Tails enough space to climb in and curl himself into a ball. The glow from his gauntlets was now constantly going, lighting up an increasingly terrified face as he kept trying to go through the grate.

Sonic clenched his fists and scowled. "Call it off, Eggman!" he shouted. His voice shook a little bit as he stepped forward.

"Any closer and you'll set off the electric barrier. You remember the Gaia incident, don't you? I repurposed the coils from that machine."

Sonic's eyes widened as he saw the panels on each side of him open to reveal that Eggman was indeed telling the truth. He grimaced and jumped forward and somersaulted just as the sparks flew between them.

"Now, you're going to do exactly as I tell you, or Tails will be flattened like paper."

Sonic watched as tails began pushing against one of the walls with his shoulder and the other with his foot. He was clenching his teeth and squinting his eyes, but after another few seconds of struggling he let go and stood in what little space was left. He looked to be breathing heavily and though the panic in his eyes was still ever present, it was clear that said panic was fighting the despair that demanded room on his face.

"What do you want, Eggman?" Sonic asked. Knuckles stared in bewilderment at him as though the hedgehog had lost it. "Don't hurt him, he's my friend. He's a kid."

"I intend on making the Eggman Empire shine, and I need the knowledge of your powers to unlock the limitless supply of energy."

Sonic shook a bit and clenched his eyes shut. The visual of what would happen was enough to force him to fight the bile that was rising in his throat. "I've never seen him this frightened..."

Knuckles stepped forward but immediately jumped back as the sparks flew again. "Sonic, don't do this, you don't have to do what he says." 

The blue blur looked to the floor. "He's my friend, Knuckles. I have to do this if it means he's safe." He paused and looked to the monitor, where Tails was now huddled. _He's family, I can't let him die. He doesn't deserve that."_

Knuckles ran forward to stop him, but he felt himself get ensnared by the shock pads. His body felt like it was turning into gelatin but his mind stayed sharp as he called out painfully to his friend. "Sonic... there has to be another way."

The blue hedgehog turned to his companion. "Take care of Tails for me, please." He had a bitter but hopeful smile on his face as he turned and walked towards the scientist.

But then, in the moment of seeming defeat, Sonic noticed something out of the corner of his eye on Tails' monitor. The fox had less than a foot of space left, but he saw very little fear in the boy's eyes even though he was huddled. In fact, he had a smile on his face as he spoke softly to himself. His gauntlets shone brighter than before as he held himself close, and in an instant the camera cut out with a white spark.

"What?" Eggman said, turning to playback the footage. "Where did he go?

And then, with a bright yellow flash, Tails appeared and shot into Knuckles, sending them both tumbling to the floor.

"Ugh, that was a ride..." Tails said softly, propping his laying body up shakily with his weakened arms. "I'm glad I'm outta that one."

Sonic turned and grinned. "So that's why you were up late so much..." He turned about face from Eggman and rushed over to his friends. "Good work, Tails!"

Tails stumbled a little bit as he recovered from what he just did. "Yeah, crafting these... not as easy as I thought it would be. Glad they work though!"

Sonic propped Tails up with his shoulder. "Easy buddy, you're still dizzy."

Knuckles eyes were wide. "I didn't think it was possible." He took a look at the gauntlets up close, taking care not to jostle them too much. "Are those Artificial Chaos Emeralds?"

"...Uh huh..." Tails said between breaths. "Spent weeks tuning the wavelengths and everything." Honestly, worth every second. Though I didn't expect to actually pull off Chaos Control. You were right, Sonic- the power really is limited there."

"Don't worry, buddy," Sonic said. "I was dizzy too when I managed it. Surprised though- I barely pulled it off with one..."

Tails chuckled. "And that's exactly why I made two."

Knuckles nodded, but pointed back to Eggman. "We've got work to finish."

Sonic let Tails go as he recovered and then readjusted his gloves. "I'm gonna say it again, where's the bomb?"

Eggman laughed. "I'm glad you cut to the chase, Sonic. Thematic."

Tails frowned. "You can't blow up the city again, we won't let you. And we know it's in this room. Just give it to us so we don't have to kick your butt!"

Eggman furrowed and turned his chair while pressing more buttons. A capsule surrounded him and a claw reached from behind to grab a suspicious-looking box. "So long, slowhogs!" he said, blasting a hole in the glass ceiling window above him. "Time to go set things in motion!"

As he hovered upwards, there was a sudden bang. Eggman looked down and grimaced as Sonic crawled up onto the cockpit window. "Don't you ever quit?" he asked.

"I don't have room for it in my dictionary, I'm afraid," he said. "This is the end of the line, Eggman."

"How are you going to get me from out there?"

"I just needed to distract you," Sonic said with a smirk.

The capsule lurched as Tails finished cutting the limb off with one of his tools, sending the machine to the ground. Luckily it didn't break, and as Tails sighed in relief, he dragged the levitating capsule closer to the floor.

Knuckles geared up with his fist and lurched forward at full force. "Have a nice flight!"

Eggman yelled as the rough impact rocketed him into the sky, his voice growing dimmer and dimmer as the scientist flew into the horizon.

"Good hit there, Knuckles," Sonic said. "Arm Day's been good to you."

The echidna smirked a bit with pride but grunted as Sonic gave him a pat on the back. He lurched forward, but rather than get annoyed, he burst into a fit of quiet and gentle laughter along with the others.

Tails sighed with relief. "Let's get the device back to the workshop. I need to disable it."

* * *

Sonic heard his name being called from within the workshop. He smirked at the fox's impeccable timing- he'd ran to the hot dog stand nearby to bring the team the usual victory meal. Not that it was different from any other meal anyways- it was always pretty unanimous what they all would choose.

He poked his head into the workshop, where Knuckles was already waiting beside Tails. "Hey, I brought lunch... or dinner, technically it's 4 pm." As he approached, Tails put his hand out.

"Wait right there, that's a big bag. How many did you get?" he asked.

"Two each. We all worked hard today so we all deserve extra."

"I'll have mine when I'm not in the lab, but thanks so much!" Tails said. "I can't have food in the lab, not safe or professional."

"Gotcha. Knucks, you havin' one?" the hedgehog asked.

"Mmm, yeah, in a sec," the echidna replied. 

Tails turned towards the device, which seemed to be puzzling him. "This isn't a bomb at all," he said. "I don't think I know what this is, actually. I've never seen something quite like this."

"Not even any idea how it runs?" Sonic asked. "Maybe the doctor's stumped ya for once."

"I can't tell much about it but it has a coil, though I don't know if it's an emitter or a transmitter. The latter would make sense for a bomb if there's remote detonation, but I still don't think that's what this is for."

Sonic placed his hand on the side of it and noticed a familiar glint inside. "Is that..."

A green Chaos Emerald sat far inside the machine, partially hidden away by a panel. Tails popped the section of the casing open and tapped on it. "That's strange, I could've sworn someone else had this is their possession. It is a power source for the machine?"

Knuckles pursed his lips. "If it's supposed to power this machine, the radius of whatever the effect was would have been huge, maybe a few miles." He had a sickening feeling in his stomach. Whenever the Chaos Emeralds were involved, it seemed like the Master Emerald was next.

Sonic walked around the device, squinting at it a bit more. "It's not active, is it?" he asked.

"No, I don't think so. I tested in a few places and the current is dead. No reason to worry there." He reached in and gripped the Emerald. "If we take this out it should neutralize immediately." Tails yanked on the Emerald, but it was having trouble budging. "Knuckles, could you give me a hand here?" he asked.

The echinda nodded and leaned into the machine to reach.

Sonic took out one half of his lunch and chomped down. "So what are you gonna do with it?" he asked, his mouth half full.

"Sonic, you shouldn't eat in a lab, it's not safe," Tails chided. "I'm probably going to use the rest for scrap. I can get a lot out of this one."

Knuckle wrestled the Emerald out of its perch with a firm click. "Alright, threat neutralized. Now we can--"

Tails noticed a button that the tip of the Emerald seemed to have depressed before it was removed. His eyes widened. "Oh, that's not goo--"

A large beam of electricity shot forward and hit Sonic, sending him into a spasm and forcing him to exhale a long and sustained scream after dropping the bag of chili dogs onto the floor. "T-Tails! Shut that thing off!"

"I-I, uh..." Tails began frantically fiddling with the device. He then realized an extra power source inside, which was hidden further and was directly connected to where the Emerald once was. It was a siphoning device, from the looks of it.

The shock intensified, and Sonic yelled even louder. The pain felt like his body was being torn apart atom by atom, like he was fading away like sickly smoke only to solidify as a black stain on the ceiling. He looked at the two of them for a single moment as they locked eyes, and then, in an instant, there was nothing but white.

"Sonic?" Tails said, horrified by his friend disappearing before his eyes. "I..."

Knuckles flinched as the machine behind them erupted into smoke. 

Tails looked at Knuckles with a silver line streaking the underside of his eyes. Knuckles frowned and helped him off the floor. "Are you hurt?" he asked brushing the extra bits of debris off of the boy's hair.

"I... I don't know," Tails said. His eyes were scanning the floor as he searched for something to say. Before long, his words limply fell from his mouth. "He's... gone."


	2. Acute Angle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic wakes up to find himself in a sticky situation, figuratively AND literally, and now has to find a way to reach his friends.

The ringing in Sonic's ears was intense as he woke up. The world was dim, and he heard rustling all around him. The sound of his friends' worried panic resounded overhead, and he felt a strong headache coming on.

"Ugh..." Sonic groaned. "Did I fall?"

A strong scent of spicy food surrounded him, and his eyes watered a bit, making it even harder to see. "Where am I?"

Suddenly, the world shifted and he was tossed about. As he slammed into the wall, he felt the coarse surface of it catch on his quills for a moment before he fell face first into something extremely wet.

"Tails, did you hear something?" Knuckles said from beyond the walls.

Sonic pulled himself from his landing a looked around again. "Guys? Where are you?" he called. "Can you hear me?"

A bit of light shone through the holes his quills tore in the wall, enough to illuminate his surroundings. Though he tried to focus, he wasn't able to view his surroundings long enough to make sense of it as he was tossed against another wall with a rumble.

"Knuckles, this is all my fault, I should have known Eggman would set us up like this!" Tails said. His voice wavered, clearly upset by what happened.

"I know, but I'm still not convinced that he's gone. Something doesn't feel right about that device," the echidna replied. "I think that clearing your head would--"

" _I don't need to clear my head."_ Sonic's surroundings shifted again, and whatever had been smeared on his face was now smeared all over his front. "He's gone because of me. What if he's gone for good? No amount of intuition is going to bring him back!"

Sonic's stomach lurched as he coughed and spluttered. He'd never heard Tails like this before, usually he was more level-headed than this. He grimaced as he wiped whatever he'd fallen into off of him. "Okay, time to get back before things go south."

There was a moment of silence before Sonic was thrown against the wall yet again, this time landing square on his back. He felt like a piece of chicken in a bag of Shake n' Bake, and his stomach was turning as he tried to remain undazed by all the sudden movements.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be pushing you like that," Knuckles said. "I'm not the best at helping people be brave."

Tails sighed. "No, it isn't your fault and I shouldn't have snapped at you. That's not what friends do. I'm sorry."

"I know that he's still here, Tails," Knuckles said. "I don't know how, but I just feel it. But we aren't gonna find him without work. We should eat though- he got us that and it shouldn't go to waste."

"I'm right here, guys!" Sonic yelled. No response.

"I'll be honest, I'm not really hungry anymore," Tails said. "This really messed with me."

"I know, but if you were hungry before and didn't eat anything, you should eat so that you can work hard to find him."

Suddenly, there was a great rustling above him. Sonic flinched as light poured into his surroundings, which only seemed to make things more frightening. He was covered from head to toe in chili, he recognized the texture of the walls as distinctly that of a paper bag and- worst of all- a hand was reaching through the hole in the ceiling towards him.

"Oh boy," Sonic said, aware that he wasn't in the best position to move. As his perch rumbled beneath him, he did his best to stay lodged between the dog and the bun.

"Tails!" Sonic yelled. His foot slipped and he fell backwards and wedged himself further down. Struggling was already hard enough with how thick the chili was to him now, but now he also had to avoid straight-up drowning.

"Huh?" Tails looked around for a moment as he pulled the first chili dog out of the bag. "Knuckles, did you hear that? Was that?"

"What are you talking about?" Knuckles asked. "Maybe there's a mouse that got caught in one of your traps?"

"Oh..." Tails sighed, his eyes growing visibly less bright. "It's nothing, you're probably right. Though Amy's gonna kill me when she sees the poor things, even if the ones I set were humane."

As Tails pushed the bag over to Knuckles across the countertop, he took a bite. "What makes you so sure we will find him?" he asked, his mouth half full.

Sonic gasped for air as the bit of dog at the other end was torn from the rest. "Oh boy," he said to himself nervously, watching behind him, "I'm not gonna be found if I get swallowed first!"

Carefully he curled himself into a crawl and quickly moved to the other end of the lunch food. A mouthful of chili made him admit that it was valid for someone people to not enjoy it. The scent was overpowering, but even so he tried his best to keep his wits about him.

Knuckles sighed. "Did anything weird happen while we were in the facility?"

"Aside from nearly getting crushed, no," Tails said, taking another smaller bite. "It was weird though- when I was disabling the security, I was surprised how easy it was. It was almost too easy."

"Maybe Eggman wanted that false sense of security to lull you into that trap," Knuckles said. "He might not always have have the upper hand in terms of numbers but he seems to be one step ahead."

"Maybe, but he was also careless in giving up the device. Normally he wouldn't have something like that out in the open."

Knuckles watched as a huge hunk of chili dripped onto the floor. "Tails, you made a mess."

"Sorry, looks like being upset makes me a bit careless," he replied.

Sonic spluttered and coughed as he wiped the chili from his face before slowly dragging himself beneath the countertop. It was stuck in his quills and on the bottoms of his shoes, and it was sticky enough that hoisting himself out of the dollop that had landed on the floor genuinely strained his arms.

As he slid under the bottom edge of the counter, he took shelter in the shade. "This is gonna take some getting used to, isn't it?" he said to himself as he examined the kitchen floor. As he scanned for any surroundings that might tip them off to his presence, he noticed a familiar pink hue rise over the pane of the door's little window.

_Oh no, not her,_ Sonic thought to himself.

"Hey, everybody, what's going on?" Amy said, stepping inside and carefully shutting the door behind her. "Tails, why do you look so sad?"

"I-I'm not it's just... Sonic went missing and I feel like it's my fault."

"Oh, that's okay," Amy said. She walked over and out a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find him, I'm sure of it. Call it my girlish intuition but I don't think he's that far away."

Knuckles sighed. "Amy, I told him the same thing and it's hard for him to hear it again."

"Sorry," Amy said. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

As the conversation rattled on above him, Sonic got himself unstuck enough to make a mad dash across the floor to the opposite counter's under edge. "I don't think I want to be found anymore, or at least at the moment..." He shuddered as he imagined what Amy might do to him if she found him like this.

Amy walked towards Tails. "It's gonna be alright, okay? We'll find him."

Knuckles' eyes widened. "Amy, wait, don't step in--"

As Amy's foot came down on the glob of chili, Knuckles' tense posture relaxed again. "You have to be careful where you walk," he said quietly, handing her a napkin.

_Glad I wasn't there, otherwise I'd be a goner..._ Sonic thought. He felt a shudder down his spine as he thought about how swift it could have been, too. _Okay, so don't get spotted, and don't get caught underfoot. Perfect survival guide._

"Sorry about that, I'll be more careful next time," Amy replied. As she cleaned the chili off her shoe she hummed in contemplation. "Hm... so have you been searching for him since earlier today or did I just miss him?"

"You just missed him," Tails replied.

_And thank god for that..._ Sonic thought to himself.

Amy smirked. "Don't worry about it, Tails. I'll clean this up." As she knelt down to wipe up the mess, she paused for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Knuckles asked her.

She stared thoughtfully at the mess. "You didn't happen to be swinging around when you dropped this on the floor did you?" she asked.

Tails furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Amy said, pointing to the ground, "there are streaks here."

Sonic's quills stood on end. "Oh no..." he breathed.

Amy's eyes followed the streaked trail of chili to where he was hiding, and as her eyes locked onto him he could see her pupils adjusting to him.

"Is that... a mouse under there? It looks like a weird one but..." she commented, pointing in Sonic's direction. The other two's gazes snapped to where he was as well. Indeed there was something beneath the counter, and as they all stood up to get a closer look, Sonic's panic resurfaced and spurred him into motion.

"Wait! Come back, Mr. Mousey!" Amy said. "You're gonna get hurt!"

_No thank you..._ Sonic thought, rounding a corner into Tails' workroom. _I'm gonna get hurt if you get your hands on me._

As the three of them chased him down, he bounced up with his momentum onto the workbench where he could more easily hide. Carefully, he began searching for shelter.

* * *

Amy sighed. "The stain ends here, I can't track him further."

Knuckles nodded. "Then I guess we have to split up to find him. Amy, you go look around the living room, I'll go upstairs, and Tails... you check your workshop. You know where everything is supposed to belong and I don't feel right snooping through your work like that."

Tails nodded before the other two split off to look for the pest.

He sighed. "What am I doing? Why am I chasing a mouse? It's a mouse!" he said as he walked further into his room. His voice was weak, and was still clearly saddened.

Tails sat down at his desk. "I know that their optimism is important but a gut feeling isn't hard evidence. I wish they thought about this logically..." he said to himself.

He reached for the Chaos Emerald and examined it a bit more. "All for this, huh? Why did he siphon energy from this of all things? A battery would have made more sense. I mean, that's what I would have done if I wanted to kill..." His voice faded as he held a hand to his chin in an epiphany. " _If_ he wanted to kill him! That's it!"

As he turned around towards his desk he began pulling out his notes on his Artificial Emeralds. Flipping through page after page of yellow graph paper, he settled on the studying he did back after the incident with Station Square. "If their properties worked the way they were described it then they'd be able to warp time and space. Maybe Sonic was teleported somewhere?"

There was a small clank as a screw rolled across the table, and Tails turned towards the source, where a small creature lay squeaking. It didn't look like a mouse even though whatever it was was clearly what he'd seen before.

It spotted him and sustained a squeak, but didn't seem to be running. In fact, whatever it was looked suspiciously familiar. It raised its arms and waved them a bit, as if to call to him.

* * *

"Tails!" Sonic shouted, waving his hands in the air. He kept looking around the table for something that might tip him off, meanwhile cautious about how close he got. He wasn't sure how gentle Tails could be, and he didn't want to risk getting himself hurt. It wouldn't take much to crush him at that height. He was still covered in a decent amount of chili, and he wondered if the fox could even recognize him with it in the way.

The fox looked at him. "Are you... talking to me?"

Sonic frowned and nodded, his suspicions confirmed by the fox boy's choice of words. "Of course I am."

"Sorry, I can't understand you, but I'll assume that's a yes." He reached for a notepad and an ink bottle. Carefully, he poured ink into the cap and set it down beside Sonic. "Can you write?"

Sonic carefully tread through the ink and jumped onto the page as Tails set it down. He looked up as the fox boy patiently watched to see what he would do. Certainly he could have just gone at a regular speed trying to write something out, but he knew he was strapped for time before Amy would be done looking in the living room. So after a moment of thinking about what he was going to write, he dashed across the paper, stopping every so often to re-ink.

Above, Tails was watching intently, head tilted at the speed of the drawing. "You're pretty fast for your size."

Sonic skidded to a stop. He pointed at his work. "Hopefully this is enough for you."

Tails picked up the notepad, causing Sonic to tumble a bit. His hands scraped against the paper in an attempt to stay. "T-Tails, be careful! I'm not make of steel!" the hedgehog shouted.

"Sorry, little guy, didn't mean to scare you." He steadied the notepad to read it. "What do you mean "Look Closer"? And... wait, how do you know my name?"

Sonic paused and remembered that he still had ink on his feet. With what he had left, he drew a circle with a handle attached to it.

"Oh, right..." he carefully put the notepad back on the table and reached for his magnifying glass. "Should've realized that's what you meant. Geez, maybe all this _is_ getting to me."

Sonic shuddered a bit as the glint of the glass fell over him. There was refraction off of the overhead fluorescent lights, and the slightest amount of heat hit him square on his chest. He frowned, realizing how bad this must look to be scrutinized like an insect. Tails slid his view over the other end of the glass, his blue eyes adjusting to the hedgehog's stature.

"Now, what do you look li---" Tails stopped. The magnifying glass shook a bit in his hand. His eyes widened as he took a moment to look around. "H-How..." He shook his head and lurched forward, trying to process what he was seeing. He looked through the glass again. "Sonic, is... that's definitely you, but... is that what the machine did to you?"

Sonic sighed. "Sorry you had to see me like this. It's just as weird for me."

Tails squinted. "Sonic, I can't hear you, you're too sma--"

"Hi, Tails!"

Tails' tails bristled as Amy came into the workshop, and Tails, in a moment of panic, placed both his hands over Sonic, who shrieked in a moment of fright. The squeaking went on for an extra second or two, so Tails attempted to drown it out with some talk.

"I thought you were looking through the living room, Amy," he said, attempting to hide the clear look of panic on his face. His eyes darted to his hands, but he tried to balance it by focusing on other items in his room.

"No, I couldn't find the pest in the living room. Did you find it?" she asked.

His eyes flicked to his hand as he felt Sonic pounding against his fingers. "Well, no... but I think I might be able to find Sonic, if that means anything."

Amy Rose lit up. "That's good news at least. Hey, what do you have in your hands?"

Tails bit his lip and blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Amy, please go get my headset out of the Tornado 2. It would really, _really_ help me right now."

Amy paused. "Is this related to the thing you have under your hands?"

"Yes, it's... extremely light sensitive, so I'm keeping it dark." He chuckled, hoping it was enough.

Amy raised her eyebrows. 

"Amy I really would like to explain my plans to you but it's time sensitive," Tails said. His words were more rushed this time, but he attempted to make them resolute.

Amy turned slowly and nodded. "Alright then, I guess I'm going to go get that for you..." she said. Her voice dripped with a knowing sass. It felt almost like a guilt trip, but Tails knew that she didn't mean it like that.

Tails winced as a prickly feeling came across his fingers. "I'm counting on you."

As soon as he heard the door to the garage click shut, Tails carefully unfolded his hands. Sonic tumbled about, disoriented by the sudden changes in scenery, and he let out another squeak. "Sorry..." Tails said. "She came over here so suddenly. But could you try not to poke me with your quills?"

He flipped over the paper on the notepad and carefully let his friend climb back onto the table. The squeaking continued, but Tails frowned. "Sonic, I can't understand you, your vocal chords are too small to produce sounds deeper than a small rodent." He pulled back his magnifying glass and took another look at him. "Are you hurt at all?"

Sonic looked himself up and down but shook his head.

"Alright, well," Tails nodded slightly. He froze for a second and a slow blush crept over his face. He pursed his lips. "Sorry, I'm pretty sure I almost ate you."

Sonic looked to the side for a moment, but then nodded. A few squeaks erupted from his mouth as Sonic flashed a slightly exhausted expression.

Tails sighed. "I'm sorry you were on the receiving end of that, lemme see if I can pull something together quick for you."

* * *

Sonic watched as Tails began tinkering around with a magnifying lens over his eye. He was clearly trying to make this better, but the game of charades had worn on his nerves, not to mention his appetite. Hopefully eating wouldn't be as hard as everything else.

Carefully, he surveyed the table. To his surprise, there was some sort of order to his clutter- all of his most-used tools were closest to him, whereas the ones used the least were either up high or put away. Careful attention was given to how he stored and managed his cables, and not a single thing had excessive dust on it.

Sonic flinched as a spark flew from where Tails was working. "Sorry about that," he said, still looking at his work. "Usually I'm a bit more careful with my hands."

_Aw, buddy,_ Sonic thought. _You don't have to apologize for that._ The hedgehog smiled softly- it was moments like these that he wished he saw more of, the moments where he could really see all that his friends did for him. "Tails, I want to than---"

"And _there_!" Tails said, holding something gently with his tweezers. He pulled his standing magnifying lens away form his face and swiveled to his friend. "I'm not used to working in such a scale but I have been dabbling with microcircuits lately. Now's a better time than any to see if this works." He leaned forward, trying not to get too close with the tweezers and poke his friend. "Sorry if it's a bit scrappy-looking- this was extremely short notice."

Sonic chuckled and took what appeared to be a small handheld device, similar to a walky-talky. It had a strap to hang around the wrist so it couldn't get lost. Carefully, he held it to his face and clicked down on the hard button. "Like this?"

"Oh, wait!" the fox said, adjusting the nearby radio. "Should be frequency 7. Don't worry- I have it adjusted so it doesn't sound like squeaking."

Sonic cleared his throat and pressed the button. "Can you hear m--" The feedback from the radio was loud, and he covered his ears. "Ugh, ouch!"

"Aaaaand that needs headphones." Tails said with a sheepish chuckle. Not missing a beat, he pulled a set from the shelf below the bench and hastily plugged them into the aux outlet before stuffing them over his head. "You were saying?" he asked, settling his elbows on the table.

"Sorry I scared you buddy," Sonic said. His voice crackled with a slight loss of fidelity, but he was at least heard well enough to be understood. "Can't say taking that much of a jolt is something I'd do again though." He sat down on the edge of the notepad and grinned, finally happy to talk again. "I know that it's kinda dumb to ask but do you have a ruler or something?"

Tails nodded and pulled a drawer open from below. The gentle rumble for him was intense for his friend, who shouted over the radio. "Tails!"

Tails nodded and gently shut the drawer, holding up a ruler in his other hand. He perched it next to the tiny hedgehog and nodded. "Hm..."

Sonic watched as Tails pulled his yellow notebook and began furiously scribbling notes. "You're only 4 centimetres tall, or about 1.6 inches. You looked intact, you say you're not hurt..."

Sonic yelped as Tails pinched him between his fingers. "Sorry, Sonic. I just... this might be important information if we are gonna get you back to normal..."

"Tails, I'm not a guinea pig!" he shouted through the communicator.

"I know, I know, I just figure that taking notes..." He breathed out and hovered his pen over the page as he calculated what he'd written. "Well, when I say "back to normal" I mean _safely_ back to normal." He gingerly set his friend on the digital scale he had and jotted a few more notes. "Looks like your weight isn't proportional to your height at all. 5 grams is two-thousand times what you should weigh."

"Wait, safely?" Sonic asked. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Well, if we do this wrong, you could be seriously injured or worse." Tails continued writing.

Sonic grimaced. "You mean I could die?"

"Well I didn't want to say it so directly, but... yes." Tails finished his sketching and set the pad down. "Are you feeling okay? Like, emotionally?"

The radio was silent.

"Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Uh, Tails," Sonic said, his voice wavering a bit. He was pointing behind him.

"What is it?" he said, looking back.

Sonic had been pointing at Amy, who had snuck in and was staring at them both.

"Uh, Amy, I can explain." Tails swiveled quickly.

Sonic stood up and stared at the two of them. He felt her footsteps and she wasn't even close enough.

"It was in here the whole time?" she said. "Don't you know it isn't safe to have animals indoors? Especially when you're working with power tools. You should know better."

Tails began to sweat nervously as the pink hedgehog came closer and reached towards the table. "Amy, I wouldn't touch him if I were y--"

Sonic moved away from her hand, hissing as he just barely grazed one of her fingers. _Too close,_ he thought to himself. _An inch more and I would be smothered._

"I don't want it to be hurt, Tails. I know you put traps around here." She reached towards the table. "Lemme take it outside."

"No!" Tails said. "That's not--"

"Tails, you have headphones in, she can't hear me!" Sonic said.

"I know, I just don't know how to make her stop!" he replied aloud.

"Who are you talking to?" Amy asked. "And how are you talking without a microphone? Didn't you ask me to get this for you from the Tornado?"

Tails looked down at her free hand, where indeed his headset was gently clutched. "It's really hard to explain, I don't know if I can without you reacting in a particular way..." He reached for his gear but she pulled her arm away.

"Well, I'm not giving you the headset until I get that thing from you."

Tails looked at Sonic, who groaned over the radio. "Tails," he said, "I know that I could run but I've seen her destroy property when she's this upset. I think I'd rather not press my luck." Sonic swallowed hard. "Just unplug the radio as soon as you can."

"Are you serious?" he mouthed. Sonic nodded in response.

Tails winced, looking at him as if to say "I really don't wanna do that."

"It's me or your machines, Tails. And if you pull the headphones out fast enough I can get through to her."

Tails felt a pang of guilt as he defeatedly hung his head. "Please don't hurt him, he's extremely fragile Amy. I don't want to see him hurt."

Amy furrowed her brow as she handed him the headset. "I'm not going to hurt him, I'm going to go release him outside so he doesn't get caught in your traps. I don't care if they're humane, it's still really cruel to lock them up like that..."

Tails mouthed the word sorry as Amy gently plucked Sonic from his spot. Sonic nodded to Tails despite the clear discomfort even her gentle grip was giving him.

"Alright, here's your end of the bargain. Sorry for being so stubborn," she said. Shifting her attention to her catch, she gently opened her hands. "Alright, buddy we're gonna... wait, you don't look like a mouse, or anything close to a rodent. What are you?" she asked.

Sonic squirmed violently in her grasp as she pinched him around the waist. She squinted her eyes to focus, and in that moment, Sonic let out a loud shout over the radio, which was now on stereo mode.

"Amy, put me down, you're gonna crush me!"


	3. Chamomile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Team finally finds Sonic, and they all react accordingly.

Amy Rose smiled as she held Sonic against her cheek. "Oh, you're so adorable, Sonic! I could put you in my pocket and carry you around!"

"Amy, put me down, I'm not a pet!" Sonic shouted. His voice was panicking as she rubbed her face against him. He groaned, trying not to suffocate under the fur of her muzzle.

Tails reached out to Amy. "You heard him, put him down. I told you that he's fragile in this state."

"Aw, can't I hold him a little longer?" Amy asked. "He's so small and cute like this."

Tails raised his eyebrow and pointed his finger to the table. Sonic's voice continued to struggle over the radio.

Amy sighed. "Alright..."

Sonic squeaked as he was dropped onto the table below. "Amy," rang his voice, "being gentle _includes_ setting me down."

"Oops..." Amy said. "I'm still baffled by all of this. I mean, how is this even possible?" She leaned in and lowered her eyes to his, clearly tempted to reach for him again.

Sonic felt a shudder jolt through him when Amy's eyes looked at him with dubious intent. He held his communicator up and spoke into it as he tried to regain his composure. "Tails, can you explain? I'm... a little bit weirded out right now."

Tails nodded. "Eggman's device was siphoning power from a Chaos Emerald. When removed, that charged power got released, resulting in, well... this." He gestured to Sonic's tiny stature.

Sonic chimed in. "Thanks Tails," he said flatly, a little peeved of the reminder.

Tails continued. "Whatever that beam was, it must have manipulated the part of space that is comprised of his matter to make him the size that he is. That's Chaos Energy for you, I guess..."

Amy tapped a finger against her cheek. "Is he stuck like this?"

"Until we find a fix, I'm afraid so. Though I can probably engineer something useful with the headset you brought me to help us streamline communication. It'll take some time, though, so he's gonna have to wait."

Amy's face seemed to light up at that, and Sonic nervously chuckled.

"How long are we talkin'?" Sonic asked. Another pop from the radio's output made it clear that Sonic's communication wasn't going to hold out for more than a few hours.

Tails frowned. "Probably the rest of the evening, and a little bit after that. I mean, if we wanna have better fidelity that is. Besides, you need to break the news to Knuckles."

Sonic didn't like the sound of that.

Tails walked over to his pack and fished through it. "I'm gonna take another measurement. I think you should use the communicator sparingly for now, but if things get too intense you should have it on standby."

Amy looked to Sonic. "I still can't believe what I'm seeing. I mean, look at you, Sonic! You're so..." her voice trailed off as she continued to marvel.

"Small, I know," Sonic said. "It's not as fun as it looks. I'm lucky I wasn't in that puddle of chili, otherwise I'd be flatter than a pancake."

Amy nervously chuckled. "Glad you weren't there then..." she said.

He dashed over to the other end of the table, which stood closer to Tails as he shuffled through his pack. "What are you getting?" he asked.

"A digital recorder. I need a sample of your voice as it naturally is right now so that I can adjust how it's received. Getting a higher frequency shouldn't be too difficult if I get a sample." He pulled it out of his bag. "There it is..."

Amy's eyes flicked back to Sonic. "I wouldn't mind if he stayed like this a little longer, Tails," she commented. "He's like a little pet!"

Sonic stepped backwards away from Amy. "I am not! And _I'd_ mind that _very_ much!"

Tails cleared his throat. "Can you stop having relationship issues when I'm trying to help out?" he said.

The radio was nothing but static. Amy sheepishly held her tongue. They both glanced at each other and then back to their friend.

"Alright, so," Tails said, placing a small box next to Sonic. It looked like an old tape recorder but there was no way a tape would even fit in there. "I'm gonna press the button, and when the blinking light goes on, just say something without the communicator." He pointed to a small hole on the side of the box. "That's the microphone input."

"Gotcha. Ready when you are, buddy," Sonic replied.

As Tails clicked the button down, a loud bang sounded from upstairs, like a piece of furniture was being set down at the speed of a moving flyswatter. "I found it!" Knuckles' muffled voice called.

Tails and Amy stayed quiet as Sonic continued talking into the microphone of the device. The clunking upstairs settled down, but was replaced by a loud set of banging footsteps as Knuckles bound down the stairs.

"Guys, guys! I found the mouse, he was upstairs in one of the jar traps," Knuckles said, pacing into the workshop.

Tails pressed the stop button on the recorder and turned around. "Hopefully that was enough."

Amy marched over to Knuckles and indignantly took the jar form his hands. "Don't just throw him around by running around the house! You're gonna give him a little concussion." She unscrewed the lid of the jar and gently rolled the brown field mouse out onto her palm. "He didn't mean it buddy, you'll be okay."

Knuckles frowned as Amy took her new little friend outside for release. "Tails, what were you doing down here? It looks like you were doing more tests and not looking around like the rest of us." He rested his arm down on the table a mere inch away from Sonic's frail figure. "At least tell me you have some sort of progress."

Tails awkwardly grabbed the echidna's shoulder and hoisted his limb away the table. "I have better news, actually. Sonic is relatively unharmed and is already back home."

Knuckles chuckled. "Alright, now I think you've gone off your rocker, Tails."

"You were saying you felt he was here."

"Yeah, that 's typically what people say when they're trying to calm their friends down."

Tails shook his head. "No, I mean you were right!"

Knuckles looked around. "I didn't hear him come back or anything. Are you sure he's--"

A voice erupted over the radio. "That's because I can't speak without the radio right now."

Knuckles tilted his head and shot Tails a confused look. "O-Okay, I stand corrected. He's still alive and he can even hear me to boot. So where did he go?" He went to lean on the table again, only to hear an audible squeak from below. "He wasn't turned into a ghost or anything, was he?"

"Don't crush me, Knucks!" Sonic shouted. The radio crackled even louder.

Knuckles paused and looked down onto the table. "Is that... Sonic?" He squinted a bit to try to parse out the small figure on the table.

Sonic raised the communicator to his face. "You could not stand so close? I can still smell your lunch."

Knuckles stood up, and the two others noticed that the echidna was shaking a bit while he hunched over. Tails tapped on his shoulder since he posture was making it difficult to see his face. "Uh, Knuckles? What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing," Knuckles said, his voice ringing a bit higher than normal. "I-I just can't... I'm trying hard not to..."

He hastily grabbed the edge of the table, which jostled it enough to knock the hedgehog off his feet. He squeaked violently, not even bothering to hold the communicator to his face this time.

" _Bahahahah! He's smaller than a hummingbird! Ahah!"_ A silver streak lined the echinda's lower eyeline. He wiped his eyes with a toothy grin and tried to compose himself. "I mean I'm glad he's okay but... oh, this was the last thing I expected!"

"Glad you're taking enjoyment out of my suffering, Knuckles," Sonic snarked over the radio. "Real smooth."

"S-Sorry," Knuckles said, clearing his throat. "Are you hurt at all?"

"Not now, fortunately... I can't exactly say the beam was a fun time though." Sonic brushed his hand against his quills, which were still covered with chili. "Ugh, I'm a mess..."

Knuckles thought for a moment, then turned to Tails. "Do you mind if I take him? I'll be gentle."

Tails was already beginning the first stages of his work, but he waved his arm as a signal. "As long as you keep him away from Amy he should be fine. But take this so that you don't lose track of him." He held a small walky-talky behind him. "Channel 7, and wear earbuds. Otherwise you'll get back feedback."

Knuckles took the device and left Tails to his work, returning to the table. Gently, he set his hand down. "Climb on, and hang on tight. I don't want to send you flying."

Sonic reluctantly clambered into the echidna's palm and gripped the fabric of his gloves. "Alright, let's get moving! Where are you taking me?" he asked.

Knuckles momentarily looked down and grinned at him. "I can't tell what you're saying, but I saw how you looked at me when I was processing what you said. If I had to guess, you're asking me where I'm going. We're going into the kitchen and I'm going to get you what you need to bathe.

"B-Bathe?" Sonic said. He looked panicked and momentarily let go of his compatriot's glove. He teetered and shouted as he tried to stand, only to fall forward and launch himself off of the echidna's hand.

Knuckles reached out and caught Sonic in his other hand. "Careful, pal. I gotcha," he said softly. He lifted his passenger to his face. " You didn't seem fond of that word did you?"

Sonic grimaced. "I don't think you'd wanna drown, either."

Knuckles let out an awkward laugh and rounded the corner into the kitchen. He lowered his palm onto the counter and carefully let the hedgehog land. "Hang on there for a second, I have to go get something to plug into this thing," he said, pointing to the handheld.

Sonic nodded. "Just don't take too long. I really would rather not run into Amy again."

And with that, Sonic found himself alone for a moment.

The sound of the crickets from outside poured through the window as the sun settled below the horizon. Had it really been that long? The clouds were stained orange with the twinges of summer's early dusk, and from the window, Sonic could feel a pull like a mother calling a child home.

He looked down into the grass. The tall stalks were like a dense forest now, and the emerald color seemed to conceal all matter of wonders to him. His hands shook with a longing to explore it, but his senses begged him not to endanger himself like that. He shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts from his mind.

The scent of chili wafted towards him, and the smell of it should have been a complete turn-off given what had transpired before. But as Sonic saw the bag on the counter, his stomach growled louder than he'd heard in a while. "Huh. Guess that never changes," he said. "But how do I get into the bag?"

He noticed holes on the side of the bag where he'd ripped right through, and it was then that he smirked. "Alright, if that's how it's gotta be, then..." He rolled himself up and dashed forward, driving right through the bag.

Sonic's face hit the chili dog that waited inside, and in a daze he reoriented himself. His friends had left one in the bag for him, and he grinned as he got a good look at it. It had to be the size of a small school bus at least, and though having be tossed around inside the same bag would have normally made him want to leave, his appetite came over him and with it an absolute enthusiasm and determination to finish it. He didn't care how- it just had to be done.

His eyes were certainly bigger than his stomach though, because he only managed a fraction of a fraction of it before he began to regret it. "Ughhhh..." he groaned. "I'm going to fall asleep at this rate."

From beyond the bag, the sounds of footsteps quietly rumbled, and a metallic clank of a water-filled something stirred Sonic from near-slumber.

"Sonic?" Knuckles boomed.

Sonic was shaken from his groggy state, and he carefully stood up so as not to repeat the slathering he got earlier from being shaken. "Knuckles? I'm in the bag!" he shouted, holding the communicator to his face.

The top of the bag rustled open, revealing a slightly ticked off echidna with a pair of white earbuds hanging from beneath his spines. "Sonic, what are you doing in there?"

Sonic raised the communicator again. "Exactly what you thought I was doing, probably."

Knuckles curled his lip. "Well, you had me worried. A bird could've flown in here and taken you away, or you could've fallen into the disposal..."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Are you... _that_ worried about me?" He flashed a grin.

Knuckle snarled. "No! I'm not worried at all! In fact, you should be worried."

Sonic felt his stomach drop. "Uh, w-why?" he nervously asked.

"Because now I have to grab ya."

Knuckles reached his hand into the bag and reached down for the blue blur. Sonic yelled and climbed over the chili dog to rest out of reach. OR at least, he thought it was out of reach.

"Get out of there!" Knuckles yelled, his voice now dripping with frustration.

Sonic yelped as he was enveloped by Knuckles firm grip. He wrestled inside the echidna's glove. "Knuckles!"

The echidna immediately uncurled his fist, a bit worried that he'd hurt his friend. "Sorry, it's just... I lost ya once and I don't want to lose you again, pal. It scared Tails and I tried to be strong but to be honest..." He pursed his lips and shook his head. "You know what? Forget it. Nevermind."

Sonic chuckled. "Looks like there's a diamond in all that rough you got," he retorted.

"Don't push it or you're a deadhog," Knuckles muttered.

Sonic's chortles became nervous. "N-Nevermind."

Knuckles set Sonic down next to a teacup he'd placed on the counter. Carefully, he retrieved a wooden box off the top shelf of the cabinet. "Alright, we have a wide selection here, but I think I know the perfect tea for---"

"Tea? Knuckles, isn't this a bath? You said it was a bath, why are you making tea?"

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "You're getting a tea bath after you got as dirty as you did." He pulled one of the sleeves of tea and tore the package open. "Besides, you may not realize it, but the capsaicin from the chili is going to irritate your skin and your quills."

Sonic frowned. "But a tea bath? Don't you think that's a little strange?"

"I've taken them before and they're soothing," Knuckles replied.

"Knuckles, I've known you for a long time, but I've never seen you bathe."

"First of all, baths are meant to be private, so of course you haven't seen that. Second, I take those baths back home where I can keep a close watch and meditate." The pot that was sitting on the stove began to whistle, to which the echidna responded by pulling the pot away and setting it on a crimson-edged potholder nearby.

Knuckles pulled the tea bag from the sleeve and laid it in the teacup before adding an ice cube from the fridge. It clattered in the cup, and Sonic covered his ears a bit. Knuckles furrowed. "Sorry, I forget how sensitive you've become."

Sonic sighed. "No, it's fine, it seems like everyone has to tiptoe around me now. Nobody can take it easy."

"We just don't want to be careless, that's all," Knuckles said. "We'd rather not catch you underfoot." Knuckles sighed. "Now that I have a moment to think clearly, do you think the Master Emerald would be able to neutralize whatever this is?"

Sonic tapped his chin. "Maybe? You'd know more about it than me."

Knuckles reached for the kettle. Steam poured gently from the spout, and the scent from the tea bag hit the hedgehog like a train as the echidna gently poured the water into the basin. "What is in there?" Sonic asked. "It's strong."

Knuckles took out another cup and began tearing into a second bag. "Chamomile, lavender, mugwort," he said gruffly. The package tore and he pulled it away from his mouth. "You know, soothing things."

"I've never even had tea," Sonic said. "It's too... I don't know, hoity-toity, I guess? Reminds me of a little girl playing with dolls."

"I getcha, but it's good for you. Much better than those energy drinks anyway," the echidna said. Carefully he placed his own tea bag in the other cup and poured water over it. "Sonic, you shouldn't let it steep too long."

"Isn't it going to be too hot?" Sonic asked.

"It shouldn't be. I put ice in there."

"Right," Sonic said. He walked up to the liquid, which swirled with a gentle ochre hue. "Why is it yellow?" he asked.

"It's pretty much leaf water and the leaves in the blend leave yellow. Would you rather that it leave red or black?" he asked.

"On second thought, I think yellow is the least weird color." Sonic bent his arm to jump in, only for Knuckles to clear his throat.

"Don't you need to remove something first?" Knuckles asked. "Those kicks are your only pair after all."

Sonic frowned. "I don't think that anyone should see my feet. Or my hands for that matter."

"Suit yourself," Knuckles said. "Moist socks aren't fun to walk in though."

Sonic shuddered. "Don't say that word again."

"Oh, you mean moist?" Knuckles said, throwing in a stray smirk.

Sonic grumbled. "Knuckles, please."

"Mo--"

"Okay, I get it, just... don't you dare say anything. I feel naked without them on and you know that."

Knuckles nodded. "You've seen my hands before, I shouldn't even begin to go into detail with you there."

Sonic kicked off his shoes and pulled his socks and gloves off and strapped the communicator around the handle of the teacup for easy access. With a shove, he clambered into the cup and directly into the searing hot water. Sonic sustained a scream as he floundered about. "Hot, hot hot hot!"

Knuckles hurriedly rushed to get another ice cube and threw it into the tea. The hedgehog wrestled with it as it mitigated the heat of the bath.

"Knuckles you said there was ice."

"There was, just not enough. Don't give me that!" he said.

Sonic grumbled as he settled into the water. Sitting down, it was enough to reach his neck which, though definitely soothing, also was a little worrisome. Nonetheless, Sonic began the slow and arduous task of combing through his quills for every last piece of chili.

Knuckles carefully sipped his still-steaming tea. "My trip here ends tomorrow, perhaps I can extend a hand to take you to Angel Island with me?" he asked. "I don't know if it'll work, but it would be good to at least give it a shot."

Sonic nodded, scrubbing the food from behind his ears. "Couldn't hurt to go and see the world."

The sound of a door closing turned both of their heads. Amy had finally come inside, and she was carrying a few things in her hands.

Sonic ducked but took a peek over the rim of the cup. "How'd she get back so fast?" he said.

Knuckles grinned. "She went out to let the mouse go and I guess she went somewhere. Hopefully it's something useful."

Amy cheerfully came to the counter and smiled. "Hey, Knuckles! Any idea where Sonic went? He isn't getting into trouble is he?"

Knuckles pursed his lips. "He's fine. Just relaxing," he said, trying not to look down and give him away.

As Sonic ducked a bit more to avoid her line of sight, his foot slipped out form under him and he fell into the steamy water. His eyes burned as his airways sucked in a small bit of water, and his throat left him coughing. But as he finished, he swallowed another bout of water down the wrong pipe. He fished for the communicator with his free hand, yanking it from its lodging and doing his best not to get it too waterlogged.

Amy heard the sound of splashing form below and looked down into the cup to see the hedgehog slowly drowning. "Are you serious, Knuckles?" she said.

Knuckles frowned. "I wasn't trying to get him killed."

Amy grabbed the cup and ran over to the sink, where she poured the bathwater over her hand. Sonic heaved as the water exited his lungs, and he looked up in the seconds that his tears from the pain dissipated to find Amy looming over him.

He yelled. "Amy, what are you doing?"

"Huh?" Amy said. "I can't hear you. Knuckles?"

The echidna sighed. "She saved you from drowning, Sonic, show a little respect."

Sonic sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I guess that I should be a little thankful someone's paying attention..."

Knuckles scowled. "What did you say to me?" he growled.

"Oh, it's nothing," Sonic said, goading him on.

"If you weren't so breakable I would've punched you into a wall."

Amy carefully moved to the opposite counter where Knuckles was sitting and paid out her findings. "So I went to the store to find some dollhouse items. You know, to make you feel a little less like everything's too big for you."

"You mean so you can play dolls with me," Sonic said said flatly.

Knuckles unplugged the radio and sat it a few feet from the hedgehog. "He asked if you were going to dress him up or something stupid like that."

Amy blushed a bit. "It sounds like a cute idea, but that didn't really cross my mind."

"Yeah right," Sonic said.

Amy frowned. "Well, believe what you want, but I have to hunt a little harder for these. They're 1/40th scale so they're perfect for you. Plus I can easily add something soft to make it a little less stiff."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "You don't have to do that for me, I can sleep anywhere."

"You know, she's trying to be nice to you," Knuckles said. "The least you could do is say Thank You."

Sonic grumbled. "...fffnk ooo..." he muttered, crossing his arms.

"I don't think that was loud enough," Knuckles said.

" _Ffffnk ooo,"_ he bellowed, only marginally louder.

Amy Rose raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"I said---"

The mic cut out, leaving Sonic squeaking at the two of them. Knuckles watched as Sonic looked down at the communicator and tap it with his free hand before holding it to his face. Still nothing but squeaking.

Sonic waved his arms. "Guys, I think it crapped out on me!"

Amy and Knuckles furrowed. "Guess that didn't last long. What are we gonna do?" Knuckles asked. "He can hear us but we can't."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Do you think Tails is done yet? He said it would take him the rest of the afternoon, and the sun's already down."

"I don't know, but it couldn't hurt to check on him. He's been working hard ever since." Amy reached down towards the blue blur.

"Amy, please, I'm not--- AUGH!" he shouted. His shout was cut off by her gentle fingers pinching him around the waist. "Amy, lemme go!"

Knuckles awkwardly looked towards the workshop. "Amy, let's get him to the workshop before he gets too mad at you for holding him."

Amy carefully cupped her hands and let the hedgehog rest inside. "Right," she said.

* * *

Tails bit his lip as he finished adding the last touches on Sonic's device. It was meant to be worn around the neck like a necklace, and in some respects it seemed to look an awful lot like the Air Necklace Knuckles used to navigate when he would explore the underwater caves across the bay.

"Alright, he said, grabbing the recording device next to him. "Time to tune."

From his right, he pulled out a small disk with a clip on the end. Gently, he put it up to his ear, and inserted it along the outer edge. He winced as a click sounded from his earpiece, and he almost cried. "I'm not going to get used to that. Hope it isn't too permanent."

As he leaned into his work and pressed the button on the recording, he very slowly turned his wrist to adjust the setting on the necklace. He stuck his tongue out a bit to the left and squinted as he attempted to find that magical pitch.

As he came upon it, he finally heard Sonic's voice as it was supposed to sound.

"---and I wanted you to know that I'm sorry for what happened earlier. But you already knew that. I didn't mean the whole 'disappearing' thing. I mean what Eggman tried to do to you. I... I was scared too, Tails." The hedgehog's voice seemed a fragile as his current form, and it was clear that words weren't his strong suit. "I thought I was gonna lose you."

The fox smiled a bit.

"I want you to know that you're the best of best friends and I hope that we can go get ice cream soon. You know, when I'm not like this. It's a little embarrassing to admit it but I didn't want you to have to take care of me like this. But even if I run headfirst into danger, there are things out of my depth. That's when I look up to people like you for strength. I know you can manage. Ugh, that sounds sappy right?"

Tails chuckled. "Yeah, it does, but that's okay."

"Tails?"Knuckles asked. "How are you handling it?"

"Uh, I just finished, actually. Good timing guys." He turned around to see Amy holding Sonic, and though he had to fight the urge to react poorly, the urge didn't seem as strong as it did before. Amy was certainly being careful this time, going so far as to not pinch him like she'd done before.

"That's great Tails!" she said, bounding up. "We're sorry, but we think Sonic's communication has been cut."

Tails pulled his tools away and stopped the recording. "Then it's good that I got this done when I did. He gestured the two of them forward. "These models should last much longer than that dinky old thing."

Sonic carefully crawled to the edge of Amy's fingers and launched himself onto the workbench. Tails flinched a bit at the sudden jump but recovered with his tweezers. Carefully, the fox offered the item to the hedgehog, who quickly unclipped the device.

As Sonic put it around his neck, he heard a beep followed by a click. The hedgehog yelped, but there wasn't any pain, just a quick pop. "Tails, what was that?" he said.

"Ah, I can hear you so much better!" Tails said. "You mean the click, right? It's a lock that ensures it wont fall off."

"Oh. Neat!" Sonic replied. "So this thing isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

"Precisely," he said. He pulled out his schematic for the device. "You'll actually see that it has a radio function as well as two modes for communication. Short range communication, like what we have now, disables your audio output and our audio input. And long range enables those as though we were using any other handheld device."

"Geez Tails, you're really good at finding new ways to push the envelope," Sonic said, grinning.

"Ehehe, it's nothing special."

Sonic smiled at Tails. He was as modest as ever. The hedgehog turned and pointed to the other three disks on the table. "Are those more devices?"

"Uh huh. One for each of us."

"But you already have one. That leaves us with one extra."

"Well, I figure that once you get back to your old self, you could probably use one too." He reached over and pulled two of them to give to the others in the room. "They work like a headset would."

Knuckles and Amy carefully took their devices. "So how do we put them on?" Knuckles asked.

"Well, you put it up to your ear and clip it in," Tails said, pointing to his own device. The two nodded and gently worked them onto their ears. Knuckles tucked his under his spines.

Tails frowned. "You two might wanna be careful about--"

Both of them let out a sharp yell. Amy gingerly touched the device now clinging seamlessly to her ear as her eyes watered, and Knuckles was bent over trying hard not to feel the clear pain he felt.

"Sorry, they clip into your ear like that so they don't get lost," the fox said.

"Wait, so you pierced my ear?" Knuckles said, frustrated. "And you didn't tell us?"

"I tried but you two were so hasty I couldn't. Besides, it isn't permanent so long as it's removed in a few days. It'll heal over."

Knuckles grumbled. "I just hope there isn't blood."

Sonic cleared his throat. "So now you two can hear me too?"

Amy's ears perked up. "Wow, it's like he's right in front of us!" she said.

"I mean I am," Sonic replied.

"You know what I meant."

Tails nodded. "Now we need to figure out how to get you back," he said.

Sonic nodded. "Knuckles actually suggested to take a trip to Angel Island," he said.

Knuckles hummed in agreement. "If a Chaos Emerald caused this to happen, then the Master Emerald should be able to undo it."

"Weren't you going to go back home tomorrow anyway?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, and I figure that Sonic could probably come with."

"Why don't we all go?" Amy asked. "We could enjoy the sun, and I could bring sandwiches to celebrate."

Sonic chuckled. "You really want a picnic don't you?"

"I don't get much of a chance with my darling Sonic very often..." she coyly replied.

"Geez," Sonic said.

Tails scooped Sonic up in his hand, complete with the usual sudden yelp. "If that's the case, you should take the Chaos Emerald with you so you can scatter it somewhere."

Knuckles pursed his lips. "Is that really the best idea? I don't even know where I'd put it."

"I trust you'll find a spot," the fox replied. "If you can hunt treasure you can find a spot that's hard to hunt in."

Knuckles nodded. "I suppose you're right."

Amy grinned. "So it's all settled, I'll pack sandwiches, and we'll all go tomorrow. It's offshore from here."

* * *

Sonic grimaced as Knuckles snored on the living room couch. The bed that Amy had found was comfortable enough with the handkerchief padding it, but no amount of comfort could put Sonic to sleep with a noise like that. Why did she have to put in on the coffee table?

Sonic sat up and put his communicator. "Knuckles..." he groaned.

No response.

"Knuckles!" he yelled.

Nothing.

"Ugh... what now?" he said.

He looked up to the counter, where he spied a few of the items Amy had brought back. He looked around for any signs of movement before jumping the gap between the coffee table and the couch.

Knuckles turned in his sleep, and Sonic shrieked as the edge of his knee came down on top of him. "Knucks! I'm..."

Sonic furrowed as he noticed that his body hadn't been completely crushed when it should have. Instead he just felt immense pressure on his lower body at the point where contact was most dense. But being on a couch had benefits, and Sonic carefully wriggled his way out form under Knuckles' leg.

"Whew," Sonic said. "I guess the Chaos Emerald made me more durable than I thought, too."

He paused as he saw what I massive climb it was going to be for him to reach the counter that stood behind the couch. It was a bar-counter, so one end stuck out a bit into the living room and sat directly behind the couch.

Sonic reared up and shot forward, climbing over Knuckles and up the wall with a dash that left a noticeable blink. He steadied himself as he jumped onto the counter. "Alright, what do we have here?"

The most noticeable of the items was a small bathtub made of clay, handcrafted and glazed in white. The faucet of it obviously didn't work since it was made for a doll, but he did see something that caught his attention- a black mark along the bottom that seemed to continue where Sonic couldn't see from a standing view.

He crouched down and looked at it. "Amy Rose, Age 7," it said.

Sonic chuckled. "She must've gone through her old stuff just to make me comfortable." He blushed a little bit at the thought of how far back she had to remember to find it. This wouldn't have been from a box that you could just open the closet and find; you'd have to dig through years of clutter.

He looked down to the coffee table. "I bet the bed was also hers too."

He sighed. "What am I doing? Why am I being this way?"

For the longest time, he wasn't exactly sure of his relationship with Amy. He knew she'd crushed on him since he'd rescued her long ago, and she'd been a good friend too. But Sonic couldn't handle that much adoration, at least not from her. It wasn't healthy for either of them. The moments that made Sonic like her more weren't where she was dedicated to doting on him, but rather when she did things with the intent on making others safe and happy. Knuckles had his strength, Tails had his smarts, and Amy... Amy was so sweet she could reach out to anybody and get a response.

He leaned into the tub and fell backwards into it. As he silently struggled to get his bearings, he heard the crinkle of a plastic wrapper. He looked over the tub to realize there was a piece of wrapped chocolate on the counter. He pulled himself out of the tub and smiled. "A midnight snack never hurt."

Sonic frantically opened the packaging and began chomping down on the giant piece of candy, humming as the sweet aroma covered him. "Oh, I'm in heaven!" he said, almost crying with excitement.

But then, he heard the sound of rustling grass outside. He furrowed and stood up to check on the noise, and as he crossed the counter, a familiar figure silently jumped onto the sill.

"Sigma Alpha, this is Shadow calling into Headquarters. Recovery of Chaos Emerald inbound," the figure whispered.

"S-Shadow?" Sonic said. "Wait, the Emerald."

He looked down to the coffee table, where the Emerald sat. The glow gently emanated from it, illuminating Knuckles sleeping face. The black hedgehog carefully lowered himself onto the floor, his shoes silently hovering him away from the floor.

"I've got a visual," Shadow said. As per usual, his face was stuck in serious mode.

Sonic quickly bounded across the countertop, the blue streak giving Shadow a moment of pause. "Shadow!"

Shadow narrowed his eyes and flattened himself against the wall. His eyes shifted around, but after a moment, he sidled around the corner and into the living room. He approached the sleeping echidna and paused, bending down to look at him a bit closer. Then he came away and turned to the Emerald.

Sonic's eyes widened. "Oh, no you don't!" he yelled, launching himself from the counter and directly into the back of Shadow's head.

Shadow flinched and went rigid as he felt a small bump behind him. "What was..." he said. He turned and looked behind him. Nobody was there.

He reached down to his communicator. "Target recovered. Meeting you at rendezvous point at 1200 hours."

He looked down at the Emerald and nodded. "Shadow, out."

And in the blink of an eye, he blinked out of the room in a flash of blue, unaware of the passenger he had in tow.


End file.
